The Commission has kicked off a first round of negotiations with the Republic of Angola for a Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement. The negotiations are taking place via videoconference today, 22 June 2021.
Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, said: “Launching negotiations with Angola shows that we are deepening our engagement with African countries – a key pledge of the new EU trade strategy launched in February 2021. Africa is our nearest neighbour and we should develop our partnership of equals. This new form of investment agreement will promote sustainable and responsible investment, which will diversify and improve the resilience of our economies, and support our climate and energy transformations. I also welcome Angola’s interest in joining the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Southern African Development Community. Building closer ties between us will support our mutual stability and prosperity.”
This is the first-ever bilateral agreement on investment facilitation that the EU is negotiating. The agreement will be based on good governance and cooperation, and will focus on achieving the following goals:
- Facilitating investment by enhancing the transparency and predictability of investment measures.
- Simplifying procedures, encouraging e-government, and enhancing public-private dialogue.
- Promoting sustainable development and responsible investment.
- Contributing to Angola’s economic diversification.
- Helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that face difficulty investing abroad.
- Supporting Angola’s effort to attract and retain investment by improving the investment climate for both foreign and local investors.
Pursuing sustainable investment agreements with Africa and the Southern Neighbourhood is part of the broader EU strategy to step up its engagement with African partners to unlock their economic potential, foster economic diversification, and promote inclusive growth. Such agreements are meant to further enhance sustainable trade and investment links between both continents and within Africa itself.
Background
At the 5th Angola-European Union Ministerial Meeting in September 2020, both sides confirmed their intention to start exploratory discussions on a European Union-Angola investment agreement, focusing on investment facilitation. On 23 March 2021, the Commission adopted a recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations with Angola on an agreement on investment facilitation. On 26 May 2021, the Council of the European Union authorised the opening of negotiations on an agreement on investment facilitation with the Republic of Angola and gave its negotiating directives.
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